Here’s The Star-Spangled Banner in Spanish Honoring Hispanics Fighting COVID-19

The Spanish translation of “The Star-Spangled Banner” was done by Clotilde Arias, a native of Peru.

Ever wondered what The Star-Spangled Banner sounds like in Spanish? Well, look no further than El Pendón Estrellado, the “only official Spanish-language translation” of the national anthem allowed to be sung, according to The Smithsonian.

The translation into Spanish of the National Anthem was done by Clotilde Arias, a Peruvian immigrant, during the Roosevelt administration, but is now being repurpused as part of a new campaign to honor Hispanic workers fighting COVID-19 across the United States.

The version you’re about to see is performed by Jeidimar Rijos, the 2019 winner of La Voz competition, and was commissioned by We Are All Human Foundation’s Hispanic Star, a non-for-profit organization that seeks to “raise awareness of the contributions of the Hispanic community to the United States.”

The campaign comes at a time when Hispanics –and other minorities– are being hit particularly hard by the epidemic. Only in New York City, for example, data shows that 34% of fatalities as of April 8 were within the Hispanic community, despite their making up only 29% of the city’s population. Nationwide, says Time magazine, Hispanic and Latinx Americans are also the largest uninsured group.